The city of Houston is appealing for emergency funding to help to fight a huge crime wave following the arrival of refugees from hurricane-hit New Orleans.

The murder rate in the Texan city leapt by 24 per cent last year, with the toll for November and December up by 70 per cent on the same period in 2004.

There were 324 murders in Houston in 2005, compared with 263 in 2004. Of the 2005 tally, 51 occurred in November and December - up 21 on the same period of 2004.

The police department has not monitored precisely how many can be attributed to those evacuated after Hurricane Katrina, but says that at least 12 homicides in the past four months have involved evacuees either as victims or perpetrators.

While stressing that they cannot lay all the blame at the door of hurricane evacuees, the police chief and the mayor suggest that the influx of as many as 150,000 extra people has been a contributory factor.

The issue is highly sensitive as the majority of the hurricane's victims were drawn from New Orleans's black underclass.

Harold Hurtt, the police chief, said: "We are beginning to see more involvement in violent offences by the evacuees who came here from Louisiana."

Bill White, Houston's mayor, is now appealing to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $6.5 million to help to strengthen his police department.

The city is experiencing an opposite trend to New Orleans, where police say they have never seen things so quiet, with only two killings in four months.

Dade certainly can provide some insight on this topic. But I mean... come on people... Those were HOMELESS people! EVACUEES! Innocent citizens displaced by a natural disaster! They weren't a bunch of criminal thugs. This is sheer coincidence.

You're now free to call me a racist if you must. But I have the numbers, not you. That's not what this is about tho... Dade... I'd like to hear a native's take on the situation.

I don't live in Houston itself, so I don't really have much insight, but by what I gather from the news is New Orleans cops think it's fucking Disneyworld since most of the city left. We ended up w/ fairly decent folks in Deer Park. There's a big gang issue in HISD also. The campus policemen are ill-equipt at best, and there's a big us versus them vibe w/ the students. By the way, is Ray Nagen smoking some bad herb? The man's not helping at all.

I'll say this much, Nagin is the best mayor NO has had in a long time. he has shown that he has ideas for helping the economy, if not just the roads, and at least intent to lower the crime rate, unlike the previous administartion that added to it.

I'll say this much, Nagin is the best mayor NO has had in a long time. he has shown that he has ideas for helping the economy, if not just the roads, and at least intent to lower the crime rate, unlike the previous administartion that added to it.

Now, I may have never been to New Orleans. But anyone who makes a statement that the hurricane was punishment from God on (insert section of the population) for some misdeed, doesn't deserve to be on the school board. Let alone mayor of a major US city.

Now, I may have never been to New Orleans. But anyone who makes a statement that the hurricane was punishment from God on (insert section of the population) for some misdeed, doesn't deserve to be on the school board. Let alone mayor of a major US city.

There are 2 things in New Orleans that are worth saving: the airport and the port.

The deep water port is the only thing that can not be somewhere else.

Calling New Orleans "major" is like calling 2 and 2 7: it just doesn't add up.